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C−History
History · Berkley

Berkley dates to 1923, and 14% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 22% of U.S. towns · #623 of 701 in Michigan. What drives it

Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1908 on, and the census since 1930.

1923founded
0on the National Register
14%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Berkley’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Berkley began

When was Berkley founded?

1923

Berkley dates its founding to 1923 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1930.

First census: 5,571 in 19302020 census: 15,194103 years

How historic is Berkley?

C−

More historic than 22% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Berkley’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Berkley is more historic than 22% of U.S. towns, #623 of 701 in Michigan. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Berkley’s overall grade.
Founding era1923, from Wikidata: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 194014.1% of homes (±2.3) · typical MI town 11.9% · U.S. 8.4%BNational RegisterNo listings counted · typical MI town 0.0 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 22%
NewerOlder
Michigan towns of 2,500+ (701)Ahead of 11%

Few Michigan towns list much on the Register (a typical Michigan town has 0.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Berkley’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (32% of Michigan towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C+. The pre-1940 share (±2.3 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1923.

Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Berkley’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 23,275 in 1960; 15,194 people lived here in 2020.On the map since 19087 editions of the USGS map, 1908 to 1981. Watch Berkley change.Old housesHalf of Berkley’s homes were built before 1949.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Berkley’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Berkley’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewBerkley Theater, entrance doors, Robins: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Berkley, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,00019401960198020002020Peak: 23,275

Peaked at 23,275 in 1960; 15,194 people lived here in 2020.

10 censuses, 1930–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Berkley’s Wikipedia page.

On the map

Berkley on the map, 1908 to 1981

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Berkley. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Berkley on the 1908 USGS mapBerkley on the 1936 USGS mapBerkley on the 1945 USGS mapBerkley on the 1952 USGS mapBerkley on the 1968 USGS mapBerkley on the 1973 USGS mapBerkley on the 1981 USGS map1908Rochester sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Berkley.

The story

How Berkley came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Berkley.

Read it all →

Prior to settlement, the land which would become Berkley consisted largely of dense forests and some isolated pockets of swampland. Many in the region deemed the areas north and west of Detroit as uninhabitable or impassible due to the harshness of the swamps beyond Detroit, but as adventurers pushed out through the interminable swamp, favorable land was discovered, which led to a flock of people to the lands of modern Royal Oak. Land in what would later become Berkley began being sold to farmers who cut down forests and otherwise prepared the land for farming. By the 1840s, Berkley contained a great number of dairy farms. The 1910s brought significant growth to the area with the completion of the Highland Park Ford Plant. As farms were sold and turned into subdivisions, there was pressure to formally incorporate the land. In 1923, Berkley was incorporated as a village. At the time, Elm…

ChaptersBerkley Center

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Berkley, 1908 to 1976

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 20th century
  2. 1908On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  3. 1923
    FoundingBerkley is established
  4. 1960Born hereAndy Levin is born here
  5. 1960CensusPopulation peaks at 23,275
  6. 1976In the archiveBerkley Theater, entrance doors, Robins
By decade

Berkley, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1970s4 items
Berkley Theater, entrance doors, Robins1976Berkley Theater, entrance doors, RobinsBerkley Theater, horizontal, Robins1976Berkley Theater, horizontal, RobinsBerkley Theater, ticket booth, bins, Robins1976Berkley Theater, ticket booth, bins, RobinsBerkley Theater, vertical, Robins1976Berkley Theater, vertical, Robins
1980s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today14 recent
WABerkleyHeader2022WABerkleyHeaderUnited States Post Office2022United States Post OfficeDowntown2022DowntownDowntown2022DowntownBerkley, MI Community Center2022Berkley, MI Community CenterBerkley Theater2022Berkley TheaterBerkley MI City Hall2022Berkley MI City HallAerial view of a portion of the metropolitan Detroit, Michigan, area, with a focus on the northern suburb of Berkley2020Aerial view of a portion of the metropolitan Detroit,…Berkeley, MI location2019Berkeley, MI locationBerkley Dream Cruise 20172017Berkley Dream Cruise 2017Roseland Park Mausoleum2014Roseland Park MausoleumBerkley High School2012Berkley High SchoolBerkley Custom Cop Car2008Berkley Custom Cop CarBerkley, Michigan downtown2006Berkley, Michigan downtown
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Berkley Theater, entrance doors, Robins
Retake this viewBerkley Theater, entrance doors, Robins, 1976

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Berkley’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Royal Oak2 historic placesA−Oak ParkIts storyDHuntington Woods1 historic placeB−

Questions about Berkley’s history

What year was Berkley founded?

In 1923, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. the census of 1930 counted 5,571 people here.

How does Berkley rank for history?

Berkley is more historic than 22% of U.S. towns, #623 of 701 in Michigan. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

How old are the homes in Berkley?

14% of Berkley’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.3 points), against a typical 12% for a Michigan town; the median home was built in 1949.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikimedia Commons (17), the Library of Congress (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.